Waiting for answers

David Lewis Jr. was gunned down more than two years ago a block from his Stockton home, and his family still doesn't know who killed him or why

STOCKTON - You may have seen the signs around town - handmade reward posters offering $10,000 for information leading to "the conviction of these coward(s)" responsible for the unsolved shooting death of David Lewis Jr. more than two years ago.

STOCKTON - You may have seen the signs around town - handmade reward posters offering $10,000 for information leading to "the conviction of these coward(s)" responsible for the unsolved shooting death of David Lewis Jr. more than two years ago.

Lewis, 34 at the time of his death June 11, 2011, was shot three times about 2 a.m. on a sidewalk about a block from his home in central Stockton. The father of five was out at that hour because, according to his mother and aunt, he had just had an argument with his girlfriend. His family believes he was walking to a friend's house for a ride or was going to walk the entire two miles to his mother's home in south Stockton to spend the night.

Lewis was struck while walking in front of a closed liquor store at North California and East Park streets, according to what his family was able to piece together. Police investigators have provided them with scant information, and even less has been made publicly available in the case still considered active.

Without a cellphone, the mortally wounded Lewis - known as "Cutty" to many of his friends - managed to leave the shooting scene, making it several blocks away to the 600 block of East Fremont Street. There, he knocked on a stranger's door before collapsing.

The resident called 911 and first responders discovered Lewis deceased on the front porch. Police acknowledged that the family's account was correct, but they would not provide any other details.

Lewis' family believes that rather than run wounded toward his home, where children were present, Lewis went in the opposite direction in case he was being followed. They said Lewis was not in a gang and they don't believe robbery was a motive because he was found with his wallet and a backpack containing a laptop computer.

Devastated by her son's homicide and the lack of information forthcoming on his killer or killers, Rachel Vargas, 52, and her sister, Theresa "Aunty Tassy" Baker, 54, and other family members made several reward posters. They have posted the signs around town during the good-weather months the past two years in the hope of generating information and interest surrounding Lewis' case. To date, no clues have been generated - at least none that police have shared with the family.

Signs are posted across California Street from the shooting scene, along Alpine Avenue just west of California Street and on the southeast corner of Center Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The family is in discussions now with a company offering billboard space. Baker said she is putting up the $10,000 reward herself for information leading to a murder conviction.

Vargas described her son as "the kind of person who always had you in mind and would bring you something. He was a real caring, loving person who would literally give you the shirt off his back. He was friends with everybody, even the homeless. He respected the elderly, always going up to them and saying, 'Can I help you?,' and would put their groceries in their car. He had jobs off and on."

Unemployed at the time of his death, Lewis, a graduate of Franklin High School, was living with his girlfriend and several children in an apartment in one of the city's most dangerous crime hotspots because her family owned the complex. Lewis expressed his discomfort with the neighborhood several times to his mother and aunt, they both said.

Baker has taken the lead among family members in keeping Lewis' case out in front of the public.

"We decided to do that because the police were so busy and there were so many homicides around that same time. Somebody is going to talk, somebody will want that money - one day. Maybe (the perpetrator will) feel guilty seeing those pictures," Baker said.

June 2011 saw 11 killings in and around Stockton, including a second homicide - that of Dominique Jones, 41 - on June 11, the same day Lewis was gunned down.

The family has hosted candlelight vigils in Lewis' memory every April 1, his birthday, and June 11. "It kind of helps everybody. We release balloons. I made candles with his picture on them. I'm going to keep that name alive," Baker said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Stockton Police Department Investigations Unit at (209) 937-8323 or Crime Stoppers at (209) 946-0600, where callers can remain anonymous. Citizens also may text information from their cellphones to CRIMES (274637) and type the keyword TIPSPD and then their tip or log on to the Stockton Police Department's Facebook page and click "Submit A Tip." In addition to the family's reward, Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards up to $10,000 for any information that may lead to an arrest.